Hiring

Training tests may provide important screening opportunities

05/30/2008

Do your new hires have to complete a comprehensive training and testing program before they’re allowed to start work? If you can show your tests are valid and necessary (and they don’t disproportionately screen out any particular protected class), chances are a new employee who alleges discrimination because you didn’t keep him won’t get far with a lawsuit …

Hiring bias costs Dallas defense contractor $1.5 million

05/30/2008

Defense contractor Vought Aircraft recently agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle a discrimination lawsuit brought by more than 1,000 job applicants. The settlement comes as a result of charges brought by the DOL that the aircraft parts manufacturer discriminated against minorities and women in hiring …

Contractor or employee? FedEx enters Round 2

05/27/2008

Continuing a case that has spanned the country, lawyers for approximately 25,000 FedEx Ground/Home Delivery workers who are challenging their classification as independent contractors have filed for summary judgment in federal district court in South Bend …

USI defers decision on offering same-Sex partner benefits

05/27/2008

The University of Southern Indiana (USI) board of trustees opted not to vote on a resolution to grant employment benefits to same-sex domestic partners. The trustees decided to take more time to review the issue …

When promotions favor similar employees, prepare to justify

05/23/2008

Have many of your recent promotions gone to members of one sex or some other protected category? If so, take some time now to figure out how that happened. It’s entirely possible that what at first looks like a suspicious “coincidence” that could be misconstrued as discrimination is actually completely innocent …

May we ask about criminal convictions?

05/23/2008

Q. Our employment application asks whether the candidate has been convicted of a felony. Is it legal for us to ask this? If so, can we ask what the applicant has been convicted of? Can that information be used as a basis for not hiring an individual?

Stable job history is a legitimate hiring criterion

05/22/2008

It’s OK to favor applicants who’ve proven they can stick with a job for a while. That’s not discrimination, as a recent court ruling shows. The key: Allow employees to explain job gaps. Then ignore those that could lead to a discrimination lawsuit …

Seven states now mandate use of E-Verify system

05/22/2008

The silence from Capitol Hill on immigration issues has spurred states to pile on the new laws. Example: In the past two years, seven states have passed laws requiring certain employers to use the federal government’s E-Verify system to electronically confirm new hires’ employment eligibility …

Bad news: $730K train derailment; Good news: Free venison!

05/19/2008

William Bowman and his employer, Pyramid Stone Industries, a granite quarrying business in Elberton, had an informal agreement: Bowman, who lived in a trailer next to the quarry, kept an eye on the place after business hours. As part of the agreement, Bowman frequently used the company’s golf cart to travel between the quarry and his home …

Should we now be using the new I-9 Forms to document worker eligibility?

05/16/2008

Q. Our HR department is using I-9 forms from several years ago. At what point should we use the new revised form issued by the federal government? …